Oct. 14, 2012
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GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Auburn hit double-digits in blocks for the ninth time this season, but a strong attack by 11th-ranked Florida was too much to overcome in a 3-0 (19-25, 19-25, 15-25) loss Sunday afternoon in an SEC volleyball match before 1,708 fans at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
The Tigers (13-6, 4-5 SEC) dropped their fifth straight road match in conference play and fell for the 36th consecutive time to Florida (15-2, 9-0). The best-hitting team in the SEC all season, Florida finished with 46 kills against just 15 errors for a .316 hitting percentage while Auburn, despite good numbers in the first two sets, finished at .176.
Both teams had 10 blocks in the match, but Florida had 45 digs to Auburn's 32 and also controlled the service game. Part of the Tigers' undoing was trouble in the service game as Auburn committed six service errors - five in the second set alone - and allowed four Florida aces.
Sophomore Halle Kearney led the Auburn offense with eight kills and just one error on 13 swings for a .538 hitting percentage; she also had one block. Sarah Bullock finished with seven kills, moving up to eighth all-time at Auburn now with 1,108 for her career. Chloe Rowand and Courtney McDonald had six kills apiece, and Culwell finished with five.
Defensively, Camila Jersonsky led Auburn with five blocks (one solo, four assist), while Culwell and Rowand were in on four apiece. Bullock had a team-best eight digs while Culwell, Chelsea Wintzinger and Sarah Wroblicky had seven apiece. Ciara Richards had a team-best 16 assists.
For Florida, junior Chloe Mann matched a career-high with 20 kills against just one error and a season-best .679 hitting percentage. Betsy Smith added 11 kills as the two middles accounted for 31 of Florida's 46 kills. Mann also had a team-best seven blocks.
Auburn held its own throughout most of a tight first set that featured seven ties and four lead changes. But the Gators gained momentum late in the set and rode Mann's hot hand down the stretch as she had three kills and a block in the final five points to give Florida a 25-19 win. Auburn hit .206 in the set, but Florida countered with a .353 percentage, led by Mann's seven kills.
The Gators took advantage of five Auburn service errors in the second set to win another one by a 25-19 score. Auburn hit for a strong percentage - .294 - with 13 kills and just three errors on 34 attacks, but five miscues on serve and a Florida ace proved to be the difference. Auburn stayed within two points until the midway point when Florida went on a 7-2 run to take a 22-15 lead.
Florida would jump out to a 6-1 lead and control the third set from start to finish, claiming a 25-15 win. Mary Hannah Arrington donned the libero jersey for the first time this season and had four digs in the set, but the Tigers had no answer for Mann, who had eight of Florida's 15 kills in the closing frame. Auburn did not help its own cause, hitting .029 (8-7-34) in the set, but the Tigers' block - six of them - kept the game alive for awhile.
The Tigers will return home next weekend for a pair of matches against two more sets of Tigers. LSU visits the Student Act at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 19, before the SEC's newest member, Missouri, comes to town at 1:30 p.m. Sunday.